


Past the Stars

by TimelessWriting



Category: Lifeline (Video Game 2015), Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Gift Fic, Graphic Description of Corpses, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Lots of Angst, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Rejection, alternate universe - astronauts, lol happy ending whats that, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 05:49:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5856565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimelessWriting/pseuds/TimelessWriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If Mizutani had told his younger self that he would have ended up stranded on some random moon while on an expedition with JAXA, his younger self would have scoffed. As if.</p><p>Unfortunately, he was right.</p><p>[An AU based off the game Lifeline, but no knowledge of the game is needed to understand the story.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Past the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Alternatively, in which Mizutani gets stuck on a rock and is absolutely fucked.
> 
> Ahhh ok so this was SUPPOSED to be a gift for @astrawberryoctopus on here, but it's not letting me put them as the recipient so oh well. This is a really, really late Christmas gift but it's done and I really hope you like it Alex! Lots of love from me to you! I hope you know just how much I love you!

When Mizutani woke up, all he knew was that it was dark and his head felt like it had been duct taped to the floor and then run over with a steamroller. Which as he slowly remembered what had happened and why he was in the situation he was in, he supposed made sense. Who wouldn't feel like they had died and then brought back to life one body part at a time after such an experience?

He had applied to join an expedition JAXA was holding during his third year of University, in which students were allowed to come aboard and study rats in various gravities. At the time, he had thought it a miracle that he had been chosen–that it would be one of the best experiences of his life, but now he wasn't so sure. No surprise there, considering he was now sprawled out underneath spaceship debri with a cracked helmet.

Sucking in a deep breath, Mizutani braced his hands against the piece of metal that had pinned him down and pushed. He pushed and pushed against it, and with a final heave, was able to finally edge it off him enough so that he could scoot out from under it and pull off his helmet. It wouldn't do any good cracked anyways, and seeing as he hadn't died from a suit breach already, he figured it was safe to assume that the air here was breathable.

Pushing out from under the debri had certainly not done anything good for his migraine, and with each move he made as he struggled to stand up, his head pounded. It felt like there was an orchestra inside his head that had all of a sudden decided that now would be the perfect time to start playing at full blast. Mizutani was almost sure now that he had a concussion. With any luck, Hamada would still be alive to check over him.

With his luck though, he doubted it. If he had good luck he wouldn’t have been chosen to go on this stupid trip and end up stranded on some _moon_ somewhere out in the universe with no other known survivors. 

Although he had called the trip stupid, Mizutani hesitated before taking back the claim–not that anyone would ever know he had thought that even for a second. If he hadn’t been picked to go on the trip to space, he wouldn’t have met _him_.

“Him” was another senior in college who had been accepted into the program. His name was Izumi Kousuke, a brown-haired, freckled male with enough sass to last a lifetime. And Mizutani found him absolutely _dreamy_ , although when he had asked him out 4 months into their training, Izumi had bluntly rejected him.

_“Why would I want to date you?”_

To be rejected in such a way certainly hurt, and for a little while Mizutani wondered why he even fell for such a person in the first place. But as he watched Izumi, he remembered it was the little things that made him fall hard. Izumi wasn’t a bad person, he knew. And once he remembered that, his feelings returned full force and stronger than ever.

 _Maybe next time. I just need to be patient._ That became his mantra.

Now that he looked back on it, it seemed so silly. After all, there were much more important things to worry about. Such as how he was going to survive here are alone.

… He really hoped he wasn’t alone. He couldn't have been the only one to survive. What were the possibilities of no one else surviving? Obviously it was possible to not have died in the crash. He was living proof of that! … But he didn't see anything moving… No other source of life…

He gulped. 

This was scary. Undeniably scary. _Terrifying._

But he had to do it. He had to make sure that there wasn't any other source of life for sure, and if there was… Well, if there was anyone left he would probably cry in relief.

Letting out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, Mizutani began the trek over to the rest of what was left of the Nishiura.

… Only to start dry-heaving once he got there. The sight before him was positively _gruesome._

One of the pipes that had run along one of the halls of the ship had been shattered in half, one jagged end having punctured one of his crewmates chest. They were laying face down, but it was clear to the eye that their stomach had been torn open and was spilling out. There was no way someone could have survived this long with an injury like that.

The only question left was who it was. Who was the person that had suffered such a horrible fate?

He slowly and hesitantly reached over to grasp at the scratched and dirtied helmet, undoing it so he could see the face underneath. Did he need to do this? Not really. In fact, he could probably do without knowing who it was. But whoever it was deserved that at the very least, to have their death known so that way if Mizutani ever made it off this godforsaken rock, he could at least tell their family…

It was definitely one of the most horrifying and regrettable choices of his life.

Head resting limply on the floor, Tajima Yuuichirou’s normally cheerful face stared up at him with wide, glossy eyes forever frozen in shock. The familiar maroon color of dried blood was speckled across the lips of his parted mouth, some of it having left needle thin streaks and specks staining his chin and cheeks. Sure enough, the visor of the helmet gave a similar sight, blood that had no doubtedly been coughed up splattering across it.

The helmet slipped from Mizutani’s shaking hands, falling to the floor where it bounced and rolled away. His whole body was trembling, and if anyone else had been there with him at that moment, they probably would have told him he was hyperventilating. His face was contorted into a combination of emotions that seemed so complicated and mixed up that it would be impossible to identify them individually if you were anyone besides the person experiencing them. But if Mizutani had to say anything, it would be a mix of horror and disgust.

“T-T-Taji–” Before he could even get the whole name out, his hands flew to cover his mouth as he spun around and began to dry heave, nothing coming up besides saliva–no matter how much he wanted to throw up.

This was just too much… Why did he have to go through this alone? It wasn’t fair. He never asked to be left alive. Not that he would live in the end anyways most likely. If he hadn’t died immediately, the food and other various supplies left over would only last so long… That is, if any of the supplies had managed to make it through the crash without being too damaged.

Sometime in the middle of his retching, he had started crying, fat tears dripping down his face while snot began to drip from his nose. It wasn’t a pretty sight, his eyes puffy and rimmed with red as he sobbed and dry heaved.

“... Mizutani? Is that you?”

Mizutani jerked his head up in surprise, scrubbing at his face in a panicked attempt to clean himself up from the pitiful sight he was just a moment ago.

“I-Izumi?” He hiccupped, watching through his tears as Izumi pulled his own helmet off.

A look for relief came over Izumi’s face and he skidded down from the small dune he had been standing upon just a little ways away as he made his way over. 

“It really is you, thank god. What’s wro–” His face fell. “Oh…”

His face was blank as he crouched down next to Tajima, gently shutting his mouth and eyes before getting back up to help Mizutani up from where he sat on the floor.

“Come on,” He softly urged, holding out a hand for Mizutani to take. “We have to go find some supplies to hold us off for the night. The sun is about to set.”

And he was right. In the background the sun left a pink tinge as it was setting, creating a sickeningly pretty sight considering their circumstances.

When Mizutani didn't take his hand, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Mizutani?”

“H-How can you act so calmly? How can you just ignore everything that's happened? H-How–” He hiccuped, glaring up at Izumi. “–can you treat Tajima like that? He was grinning and laughing with no problem a little while ago and now he's _dead!_ Show some respect and _grieve a little, will you?_ You always act so–”

He let out a gasp and brought a shaking hand to gently touch the growing red handprint on his cheek. 

“W-Wha…” He spluttered uselessly, looking up at Izumi with confusion apparent in his eyes.

“God, just shut up for a moment, will you?” Izumi stared down at him, voice trembling–just like the hand that still hung in the air in front of him. “You think I'm not upset? You _really_ think I'm not upset that my best friends and teammates are _dead?_ Of course I am! Just who do you think you are– some great defender or morals? I feel like I'm dying inside right now, but I can't cry. I can't afford to cry. We got out of that crash alive. The least we can do is make sure that continues to stay true. 

“Tajima was _dead_ , Mizutani. There's no way he ever could have survived something like that, and even if he did, he would have died of blood loss anyways. You know that. You saw the body. There's nothing else we can do for him besides try to give him peace in death and honor him by trying to stay alive. Which isn't going to end up happening if we waste time grieving now. We can save that for after we’ve secured food, water, and shelter. So I'm sorry, but please get your head out of your ass and don't assume I'm not upset because I'm prioritizing my _and your_ safety and survival. I'm just as upset as you are, but I also have a very important job to do, and that's staying alive. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which one takes priority.”

By the time he finished his speech, Izumi was out of breathe and his whole body was trembling, his eyes glazed over with tears of emotion.

“I… I'm sorry…” Mizutani murmured. “I didn't have the right to accuse you of not caring…”

Izumi took in a shuddering breath and sighed. “It's fine, as long as you understand now.”

He held out his hand to Mizutani, and this time, he took it.


End file.
